News

In the Spring Semester 2026, we welcome Nana Kobidze, Chechesh Kudachinova, Lana Kudzieva, Svitlana Odynets, and Murat Shogenov as part of the CEES Fellowship Program. We look forward to collaborating with the new fellows and to their contributions to CEES events, and we wish them every success in carrying out their projects.

CEES is delighted to participate in the international project Swiss-Armenian University Link (SAUL), which seeks to enhance and expand academic cooperation between Swiss and Armenian universities. The project aims to pave the way for a long-term cooperation in the fields of Eastern European/Russian/Post-Soviet Studies, with a focus on the social sciences and the humanities. The main goal is to establish an institutionally anchored network and collaboration through joint conferences, mobility initiatives, and a summer school. The current partners in the project are the University of Fribourg (coordination), the University of Bern, the University of Zurich, the American University Armenia, and the Yerevan State University. SAUL is financed by MOVETIA (Switzerland) and will run from November 2025 to October 2027.

Since January 2025, two new publication series – the Belarus Analytical Digest (BAD) and the Moldovan Analytical Digest (MDAD) – have been launched. They complement the Eastern Europe – Analytical Digest Series jointly supported by CEES, the Center for Security Studies (CSS) at ETH Zurich, and the Research Centre for East European Studies (FSO) at the University of Bremen. With these additions, the English-language series now comprises five country-specific publication series focusing on Russia, the South Caucasus, Ukraine, Belarus, and the Republic of Moldova. A further series on Central Asia is currently in preparation.

In this policy analysis written as part of the CEES–CSS cooperation, Jeronim Perović examines the situation in Georgia in the run-up to the parliamentary elections:

Jeronim Perović: Georgia at a Crossroads, CSS Analyses in Security Policy, No. 349, Zurich: ETH Center for Security Studies, October 2024.

Together with the Center for Governance and Culture in Europe (GCE) at the University of St. Gallen and the Ukrainian Research in Switzerland (URIS) initiative at the University of Basel, CEES is organizing and funding the international conference “Societies on the Move: Migration, Mobility and Displacement in Eastern Europe.” The conference will take place from 1–6 September 2024 at Monte Verità, Congressi Stefano Franscini, in Ascona.

A new institute is being established at UZH to gain a better historical, political and cultural understanding of Eastern Europe. See the UZH media article, and the interview with Sylvia Sasse and Jeronim Perović, published on April 4, 20224.